A major concern of medical facilities, namely, hospitals and clinics, is the transmission of harmful organisms and bacteria within the facility. In this respect, hospital environments are known to contain organisms, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. Diff), that are known to be resistant to currently available antibiotics. These organisms are particularly troublesome in hospitals because patients with open wounds, invasive devices, and weakened immune systems are at greater risk of infection than the general public. With the significant interaction between patients and medical staff, as well as patients, family members, and visitors, reduction of hospital-acquired infections is particularly important.
Because the foregoing organisms are generally resistant to currently available antibiotics and can exist on surfaces within a room, including furniture, hospital bedding and medical equipment, infected patients are often isolated from other patients within the medical facility, and rooms and equipment are cleaned following release of the patient.
One current method of killing organisms within a room involves the use of vaporized hydrogen peroxide. Because of the hazardous nature of vaporized hydrogen peroxide, the patient care room or patient isolation room must be made leak-tight to insure that hydrogen peroxide gas remains within the room and levels of hydrogen peroxide outside the room do not exceed one part per million (ppm). Another problem with using vaporized hydrogen peroxide is that a vaporized-hydrogen-peroxide sterilization cycle typically takes upwards of two to three hours to complete, including a lengthy aeration phase to break down the vaporized hydrogen peroxide to safe levels. Moreover, the risk of hydrogen peroxide leaking into adjacent areas of the medical facility through the HVAC system is a significant concern. Even when a room is sterilized using vaporized hydrogen peroxide, once the room is open, airborne organisms and bacteria can enter the room as a result of normal circulation of air in the medical facility. In this respect, in some instances, it is necessary to protect patients (such as burn victims) who are highly susceptible to airborne bacteria and organisms from being exposed to bacteria, organisms, and viruses in the atmosphere typically found in the hospital environment.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems and provides a patient enclosure that can be quickly decontaminated using UV radiation and that can control the atmosphere within the enclosure to confine the atmosphere within the enclosure from migrating out of the enclosure or can maintain the environment atmosphere outside the enclosure from entering the enclosure.